Aryna Sabalenka achieved her tenth straight victory in an unbeaten season and advanced to the second semifinal of the Australian Open in the tournament opener, the Polish Magda Linette, by 7-6 (1) and 6-2 in one hour and 33 minutes of play.
The Belarusian needed five years with a remarkable presence in the most privileged part of the WTA list and eleven professional titles to make the long-awaited leap: a Grand Slam final, denying him up to three times with as many defeats in the semifinals.
It featured cheering crowds at a Rod Laver Arena, made a grand entry as Australia celebrates the country’s national day on January 26, and coped better with the windy and cold conditions than its rival Linette.
However, Polish started more smoothly and consistently and scored an early break against an erratic Sabalenka, who closed the first round with nine more errors than her rival.
Linette was not strong enough, in her first semifinals of a ‘slam’, and her proposal was broken in a tiebreaker game that Sabalenka put on track after scoring the first six points.
Sabalenka’s furious tennis did not slow down in the face of a Linette who had lost steam as a result of her demanding defences, and was reflected by a ‘double-break’ from the Belarusian who stroked the pass for her first final.
Linette, the revelation of the tournament at 30 years old, did not give up, and held her serve after saving three match points. However, in the next game Sabalenka closed the match with her signature shot: a forehand winner.
“He played great tennis”said the Belarusian. “I haven’t started very well but in the tiebreaker game I found my rhythm,” he commented at the Rod Laver Arena after the end of the clash.
The winner laughed when the interviewer revealed to him that the speed of some of his forehands exceeded that of some men on the circuit and he jokingly replied that it was something that did not surprise him because “they play very slowly”.
the belarusian She has a favorable 3-0 face to face against her future rival in the final, Kazakh Rybakina.
Sabalenka prevailed in three sets in their encounters in Wuhan in 2019 and in Wimbledon and Abu Dhabi in 2021.
“It’s amazing to get to the final in these types of tournaments. He’s a great player, very aggressive and already has the experience of winning Wimbledon,” concluded the tournament’s fifth seed.
Sabalenka almost became number two in the WTA ranking, while Linette moved up to position 22.
Her opponent in Saturday’s grand final is Kazakh Elena Rybakina, who beat another Belarusian, Viktoria Azarenka, 7-6 (4) 6-3.
Source: La Verdad
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